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The Nation's Pulse
Feeling Superior
The lake, that is, one of America’s greatest treasures.
(Page 2 of 2)
Unitarians and all other customers are most welcome. The monks are extremely ecumenical in their retail trade and support their community with its proceeds.
Heading further west, well east of Duluth is the town of Bayfield, Wisconsin, which is the jumping off point for the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, an archipelago of 21 islands trailing off into the very blue and deep Lake Superior. I am informed that the French Voyageurs originally thought there were only 12 islands, hence the name. Boating or kayaking around these islands is a great adventure, different but with some similarity to the kinds of experiences available at Pictured Rocks.
While working on Great Lakes issues years ago, I had the opportunity to participate in a fall tour provided by the National Parks Service when the colors were at their peak. Stunning. Previously, I had taken my family on the car ferry out to Madeline, the big island owned by Wisconsin, and had a lovely time since, incredibly, it was actually warm enough to swim.
Alas, ardent swimmers may not find Lake Superior ideal to their purposes. Some like it hot. Some like it cold. If you are part of the latter group, the Big-Sea-Water is your kind of place.
Bayfield, headquarters for the National Park Service for the Apostles, was also the site of a POW camp for German prisoners in the Second World War and has a delightful apple festival in the fall.
From the Straits of Mackinac to the Soo Locks, from Pictured Rocks to the Keweenaw and the Apostle Islands, there are many opportunities to feel very Superior about one of America’s greatest treasures.
About the Author
G. Tracy Mehan, III served at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the administrations of both Presidents Bush. He is a consultant in Arlington, Virginia, and an adjunct professor at George Mason University School of Law.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (15) | Leave a comment
More Articles by G. Tracy Mehan, III
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Reggie Love| 7.16.12 @ 9:05AM
Lake Superior is so cold that only 1 day per year can people swim in it. Or so I have been told by relatives of mine who live in Wisconsin.
Occam's Tool| 7.16.12 @ 11:30AM
Dear Reggie: wear an appropriate wetsuit, sir. This can be obtained in the city of Duluth, among others. Thank you for your astute comments.
Mr. Mehan: you are so right regarding the gradeur. I live 3 hours away from Duluth (it is the easternmost point of my hospital's catchment area), and I grew up in Chicago, so I have seen both lakes by the shore. Michigan is fantastic, but Superior stuns in its majesty. One can go to a hotel/waterpark in Duluth and see the shore and wet/exhaust the children all at the same time (Pre-pubsecent children need to be run like Greyhounds, you know.).
Occam's Tool| 7.16.12 @ 8:34PM
Jeez. Sorry---"grandeur," "prepubescent."
Jon| 7.16.12 @ 11:34AM
I went to Michigan Tech, right in the middle of the Keweenaw peninsula, back in the 70s. We did a lot of camping, on the lake shore as well as inland, Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. I can tell you we swam in Lake Superior, but it was in mid-summer and in sheltered coves in the top foot or two of water. If you went any deeper you would freeze any time of year.
Petronius| 7.16.12 @ 11:39AM
Say yeah to the the U P 'a. You left out the most important item the average tourist needs to know. How much is the Toll to cross that bridge?
namfos| 7.16.12 @ 11:46AM
I once went to Michigan Tech for 2 days of business meetings from NYC - I basically spent the week on the road. I love the country up there. I commend to you Jim Harrison's novella Brown Dog in which Superior figures importantly. And for Yooper stories those by Robert Traver (Anatomy of a Murder, Trout Madness) and Joseph Heywood (the Woods Cop series) are hard to beat.
ebonystone| 7.16.12 @ 2:02PM
Yes, the south shore from the Soo to Duluth is great, but so is the north (Minnesota) shore. Highway 61 is a great scenic drive, with several large state parks, filled with waterfalls. And there are man-made structures -- like the ore docks at Two Harbors and the taconite plant farther north -- to equal the Soo locks and the Mackinac bridge.
ebonystone| 7.16.12 @ 2:09PM
But, smokers be warned: in both Michigan and Wisconsin , the fascists in the statehouse have outlawed all smoking in hotels and motels. I think it's still o.k. to smoke in your own trailer or RV at a campground.
Occam's Tool| 7.16.12 @ 8:36PM
Well, if you want to pay to clean up the hotels by paying, say, double the price of non-smokers....funny, no smoker ever picks up on the damage their habit does to drapes, rugs, walls, etc.
ggoblue| 7.17.12 @ 12:10AM
don't be a tool...
the point is that it should be up to the host not the govt.
TJ-UP| 7.16.12 @ 4:20PM
Lake Superior is the best, and believe it or not, it does actually warm up sometimes. Yesterday, the surface temp was 71 degrees. Good article about the beautiful places surrounding Lake Superior, including the Keweenaw Peninsula, or Copper Country.
Skippy| 7.16.12 @ 4:46PM
Thank you so much for this wonderful brief glimpse of a place too few Americans are even aware of.
As a child we traveled from Detroit to the U.P. The bridge was brand new and seemed so out of place given that the approach roads were lil'ol' 2 lanes, and the towns just wide spots.
Copper Harbor State Park is at the tip of the Keewenaw Peninsula and the northern terminus of US Hwy 41(Florida Keys at the other end.)
There are no words(though Tracy has found a few of them)to describe the feeling of being at world's end on the shores of Superior.
God willing I will see it again prior to my departure from this earth.
Pat Korten | 7.17.12 @ 4:49PM
As a "Yooper" who's been in the D.C. area for 40 years, your article takes me back. My dad was a mining engineer there, back before the mines played out. I was a kid there before the Mackinac Bridge was built, and to us, the Lower Penninsula might just as well have been on the other side of the world. (We always rooted for the Packers, not the Lions) It's some of the most beautiful country you'll ever see. Sorry to see that the Ojibway Hotel has become a Ramada, but I suppose that's better than being torn down. Visit in July! January can be a bit cold and wintry. And don't miss Mackinac Island. Take the kids. They can wander the island all day, and the worst that can happen to them is that they step in a little horse poop or have to dodge a bicycle.
Aida Norman| 8.10.12 @ 12:57AM
I have only heard about this lake but I always want to feel like going there. But this year I will definitely plan to go for a holiday.
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